Space for Transparency This blog by Transparency International provides an independent and informed viewpoint on corruption. It gives a space to start a worldwide conversation on possible solutions to overcome corruption, and on governance, transparency and accountability.

Norway regularly features near the top of rankings for quality of governance, health and education, including Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. In 2014 it was ranked by this index as the fifth cleanest country in the world, out of 175 countries. It is one of the few resource-rich countries that have managed to escape the resource curse, […]

This week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a ground-breaking report that dissects the massive and mostly hidden phenomenon of transnational corruption. Looking at more than 400 bribery cases across 41 countries that amounted to US$13.8 million per bribe, the report gives a glimpse inside the shadowy world of corrupt practices by […]

On 30 July it emerged that the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia had issued a suppression order to stop the media from reporting key details of a scandal that involved foreign bribery in the printing of Australian bank notes, allegedly implicating people from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The court order is apparently in the […]

It is not just enough to talk about fighting corruption or even to sign an international convention outlawing it; it’s actions that count. But recent scandals in the defence sector show that, for some countries, the ride ahead is still very long and bumpy. Take, for example, the recent developments in the AgustaWestland scandal, in […]

So now that the G20 dust has settled and the media circus has dispersed, did the representatives of two-thirds of the global population make any meaningful decisions in St Petersburg? The final St Petersburg G20 Leaders Declaration has 11 paragraphs devoted to corruption efforts. This greater visibility is welcome progress from the two sentences included […]

Last month the FT wrote about the countries that will be driving global economic growth in the years ahead. any company still concentrating its efforts in established economies really is living in the past.” But companies trying to prepare for a future world of opportunities offered by new markets must be ready to face new […]

This post was originally published in TI-UK‘s blog. Is there an assault being mounted to undermine the Bribery Act – before it has had a chance to take effect? Anecdotal evidence suggests this is the case – one visible sign is a recent letter to the FT (FT Letters, March 18th). I have some sympathy for the concerns expressed […]

The OECD has accused France of not responding effectively to the problem of international corruption. The third monitoring report on France’s implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention did cite some progress: efforts have been taken to make businesses aware of the need to fight corruption and implement corruption prevention measures. But the rest of the […]

“Our country is a good student when it comes to passing laws. What is missing is their implementation because of the lack of political will” says Daniel Lebègue, chair of Transparence France. One of the world’s biggest exporters, France is not doing nearly enough to fight and prevent foreign bribery, say the OECD’s and Transparency […]

President Barack Obama, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly about the true nature of democracy, mentioned corruption and bribery several times. I was particularly struck by this line: True democracy demands that citizens cannot be thrown in jail because of what they believe, and that businesses can be opened without paying a bribe. Unfortunately, […]

Space for Transparency

This blog by Transparency International provides an independent and informed viewpoint on corruption. It gives a space to start a worldwide conversation on possible solutions to overcome corruption, and on governance, transparency and accountability.